Many mobile devices utilize position determination techniques to provide location based-services to the user of the mobile device, such as navigation applications, map information, content targeted to the location of the mobile device, and/or other location-based services. The mobile device can be configured to use signals from various types of wireless transmitters, including wireless access points providing Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connectivity and/or wireless base stations providing Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) connectivity (macrocells, picocells, microcells, femtocells, and/or other types of WWAN base station) can be used to determine the position of a mobile device.
The mobile device can be configured to perform periodic scans to detect wireless transmitters proximate to the mobile device the signals from which can be used to determine a position of the mobile device. Performing such scans can require significant resources on the mobile device, and can significantly impact the battery life of the mobile device.